Big Idea - The people of Israel had met with a great defeat at Ai, but God revealed it was because they had broken faith and had taken some of the things devoted to destruction. That sin had been dealt with, so now they get a second chance. God speaks to Joshua, "Do not fear and do not be dismayed." One of the natural results of failure and defeat is that we lose courage, and we are tempted to give up. Our faith is shaken, and we may feel stuck, unable to move forward, fearing that we will only fail again. As followers of Christ, we are fighting different battles than Joshua and Israel, but we are fighting battles nonetheless, and they are just as serious and the need for victory just as significant and vital to our survival. Like Israel, sin can creep into our lives, and the result is that we meet with significant failure and disappointment. The immediate consequences may not be as great, but the spiritual consequences are every bit as damaging and real. It can result in a spirit of fear and dismay that robs us of faith and leaves us feeling like giving up because we have come to believe that it doesn't work. We settle for a life that is marked with defeat and fails to take possession of all that God has for us. The result is that we never really enter into life in the Kingdom, the life with Christ and all its blessings and all the victories that God has promised us! But this will not do. God comes to us and proclaims, "Do not fear and do not be dismayed!" There always stands before us a second chance to go into battle with the great hope of victory and success. The reason for this confidence is that we do not fight in our own strength but in the power of God. He has guaranteed our success. The Israelites went into battle for the first time in their own strength, without God's help or power, and they failed. They got a second chance, and this time they went in the power of God and gained an incredible and total victory. The big question for us is what they did right the second time to ensure that they fought this battle in the power of God, which was the only way to win? How can we be certain we are fighting our battles and confronting our enemies by the power of God and with the certainty that we will be victorious?

First of all, we need to deal decisively with sin through confession and through faith in the perfect work of Christ to remove our sin and guilt. Second, we need to check that we are living for God's purpose and plan and not our own. Our great worry is that God's plans have nothing to do with what we want or need. But this is the great lie of Satan. The truth is, God's plans are ultimately for our greatest good and blessing! The heart of the matter is really about who is in control. Living for myself means I seek my good my own way. But when we submit our lives and plans to the purpose and will of God, we are seeking our own good and best life, but God's way, in God's time, allowing Him to be in charge of everything! Third, if we are truly submitting fully to God's purpose and plan, then we must be diligent to be directed and led by Him. Joshua listened to God, and God spoke to Joshua His plans. God told Joshua what to do, what the results and rewards would be, and He gave him the specific strategy to use to be successful. We do not know how God spoke to Joshua, and that is not really important. The fact is that He did speak to Joshua, and likewise He speaks to us. God speaks to us through His Word, the living Scriptures, through His Holy Spirit living in us, through the counsel of godly people, through circumstances, and in our hearts through our own thinking. God will make His plans and purpose known to us, and He will make it clear. The problem is not so much with God speaking as with our willingness to submit to what He is telling us to do! We will never hear the voice of God until we are fully surrendered to His rule over our lives and committed to following Him no matter what!

Fourth, we do our part, walking in obedience and faith, and at the same time keep our eyes firmly fixed on the true source of our power and success. Sometimes God does work supernaturally, apart from anything we do. But more often, God works in us and through us. In other words, sometimes God holds the weapon in His own hand, and we only watch what He does. But other times, we are the weapon in His hand, and He uses our efforts and our labor to accomplish His plan. But there is always a great danger here that we begin to trust in our own strength and abilities rather than understanding that it is the power of God at work, giving us success and victory in what we put our hands to. The Israelites looked to the sword, or javelin of Joshua, as the symbol of God's power at work in their midst. But we look to the cross, fixing our eyes on Jesus, who is the guarantee of God's power at work in us. As this story shows, the cross is a picture of the most humiliating and crushing defeat imaginable. A king, hanging on a tree, is a picture of the most complete and humiliating loss possible. Jesus suffered total defeat on the cross, and Satan, the powers of darkness, and every enemy that hated Him so, gloried in triumph over the King of glory who seemed to flee in defeat before them. Jesus lay buried under a mountain of stone and rock. But then God turned the tide, from His throne in heaven, God stood and stretched out His mighty hand toward the tomb, and Jesus rose victorious over sin and death and the grave! And then Satan, and darkness, and every enemy of man fled in terror before the resurrected King. It is this King who goes before us into battle, and He is the one who guarantees our victory! So, do not fear and do not be dismayed!!

Big Idea - The Israelites had experienced an incredible victory at Jericho. The great takeaway was that even the most impenetrable fortress would fall before them with ease because God would do it. God would make the impossible seem easy! But the next lesson they must learn is that what should have been an easy win would prove impossible if they were not careful. Joshua sent spies to scope out Ai, and they reported that Ai would be an easy win, so they only needed to send a small army. But when they went, they were easily defeated and fled before the enemy, and as a result, 36 men were killed. Joshua and all the people are shocked and dismayed. How could this happen? But the author gives us the reason before the spies are even sent. The people have broken faith with God by taking some of the things dedicated to destruction at Jericho. There is sin in the camp, and until that sin is dealt with, things are not going to go well. As we look at this story, we might find it somewhat troubling. Why should the actions of one man move God to abandon and even punish the entire nation? We might feel that this is just not fair. When Achan is finally caught, he is stoned and burned along with everything that belongs to him. This seems quite extreme, and the punishment is far too severe for his crime, especially given that he willingly confessed to all he had done. What are we to think about these things? How could God hold the entire nation guilty for the sins of one man? Why is this such a big deal? The truth is, we take sin far too lightly and fail to see how truly devastating and far-reaching sin is, and all its consequences. We have become so comfortable with sin, and it is so much of our daily experience that we don't see that it is a very big deal! So the question we want to answer today is, why is sin such a big deal?

First, sin is a big deal because it is the root cause of every defeat and every failure in life. There is no such thing as a little sin, because all sin is breaking faith with God. It is a betrayal of God's love and faithfulness. It is idolatry. As a result, the ultimate consequence of sin is that God is no longer with us. We lose His active presence and help. We are defeated because we are on our own. Not only is sin no small thing, but it is also never just a personal problem. That is because we are far more connected to each other than we realize. The consequences of sin not only affect us, but its ripple effects touch the lives of all those around us. We are in this together. Life is a group project, and our families, our workplace, our Church community are all impacted when we choose sin. Like it or not, what we are, we are collectively, not just individually. So then, sin is a big deal, and it is what is wrong with the world. Society is messed up because the individual sins of everyone affect us all. Therefore, we are to be in the world but not of the world. But, for us, the problem comes when there is sin in the camp, that is, in the Church. Just as Joshua had to deal with sin in the camp, so we must deal with sin in the Church.

But, how do we know if there is sin in the camp? How do we diagnose the problem when we meet with a devastating failure? Only God can diagnose the problem, and He will reveal it to us when we earnestly and humbly fall before Him in prayer. Joshua's prayer is both honest and concerned about God's honor and glory among the nations. God is quick to respond to this kind of prayer, and He reveals the root problem. Not only that, but God also reveals the cure. Joshua and the people must confront the sin and deal with it. Someone has kept the things dedicated for destruction, and now all Israel has been dedicated to destruction as a result. They must give the dedicated things to God, and the one who took them is now under the same curse as the Canaanites, and he must be devoted to destruction.

In dramatic fashion, Achan is caught in his sin. Nothing is hidden from God, and in time every sin will be revealed. There are no secret sins, and when the judge comes, all will be brought into the light! Joshua demands that Achan give glory to God by confessing his sin. Confession is the first step to making things right, because we agree with God, and it brings Him glory and praise. But confession is not enough. Achan is still under the curse of guilt, and as a result, he has now become a thing devoted to destruction. But, just as the sin of one man brought guilt upon all the people, so also, by devoting him to destruction, all the people were made right with God. Indeed, the wages of sin is death. Who among us can stand before God without guilt? Nothing is hidden, and one day God will bring everything out into the light. How can any of us stand before God? If this story teaches us anything, it is that sin is a big deal because God is absolutely holy and sin is breaking faith with Him. It is the greatest betrayal of His love and kindness toward us when we delight in things instead of delighting in Him. When we love anything and everything else, rather than loving Him, that is why it is such a big deal. It is personal, and it is against the very person of God who made us and loved us. When we love what is devoted to destruction, instead of loving God, we come under a curse and are devoted to destruction. We must pay with our very life, to be burned in the fire, the eternal fire of hell. A flame that is never quenched or extinguished. How are we to escape such a terrible judgment? Praise God that Jesus was cursed on our behalf. He was devoted to destruction, even though He was the only one who never sinned and never stopped loving God. But, just as death and destruction entered the world through one man, so the gift of life came through Jesus, so that as many as believe in Him should never perish but have eternal life. So, give glory to God by confessing your sin! Unlike Achan, if we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, by the blood of Jesus! Confession is one of the most neglected ways to praise God. But, Oh, it is indeed praise when we admit our failures, when we acknowledge our failure to love Him with our whole being, and that we have loved the wrong things, and we are filled with great remorse and agony that by these things we have betrayed Him. But then the joy and even greater glory we give to God, when we see what Jesus has done to take the curse of our sin upon Himself, to pay the penalty for our guilt, so that we could be at peace with God!

Big Idea - What is the first thing you do when you achieve your greatest goals? A while back, there was a Super Bowl campaign that asked players, "You are the Champions, what are you going to do next?" And the famous reply, "I am going to Disney World!" In other words, you have finally made it, you achieved your ultimate goal, so now you are living a different kind of life, the life of a champion, so what are you going to do with it?" This is precisely what is happening in chapter five of Joshua. It is as if someone is asking them, "God just brought you into the Promised Land, you have made it! What are you going to do next?" But the answer is not "I am going to Disney World!" But it is very significant to see what they did first when they finally made it! The first thing you do when you finally accomplish your greatest goals and achievements is significant. The people of Israel have entered into a whole new reality; you could say they have entered into a new life. And the question is, what are you going to do with it? This is very relevant for us, because the entire message of the Gospel is that we have been saved from death and have been given new life in Christ. We now live in a completely new reality, a very different kind of life. So what are you going to do with it?

The first thing God commands Joshua to do is to circumcise all the males in Israel. That is no Disney Land! The reason this was necessary was that the entire generation born in the wilderness had not been circumcised. Circumcision was given as the sign or mark of the covenant. They were to be physically marked with this sign that they had entered into a covenant relationship with God. But what was it a sign of? It was a sign that they belonged to God; they were His own people and possession. Therefore, they were to love him, trust Him, and serve Him with their whole heart. So, circumcision was an outward sign of an inward reality - a heart that was not stubborn and hard, but one that was tender and obedient. So, why hadn't they done this before? Why wait until they enter the Promised Land? Shouldn't it have been a requirement to enter? The great lesson here is that God brought them into the Land apart from anything they had done or could do; it was all by grace. Entering into the new life was entirely a work of God by His hand alone. But, the result of entering into this new life is that for the first time, it is possible to live the life of obedience God had called them to. This was impossible when they were wandering in the wilderness, but now that they have come home, they can do all that God commanded them to do. That was the great purpose of the Promised Land! Living the life of holiness and obedience that God had called them to was impossible when they were captives and foreigners. But now that they are home, they can live a very different kind of life. We are marked by a sign, not of circumcision but Baptism. It is not something we do to be saved, but it is a mark of what God has done to save us and bring us into a covenant relationship with Him. But the sign only means something if it is an outward mark of an inward reality - a heart that loves, trusts, and serves God because He has given us new life!

The second thing they do is to celebrate the Passover. In God's perfect timing and plan, He brought them into the Promised Land at the exact time to observe Passover, which was to be observed on the fourteenth day of the first month. This is not just a coincidence; it is God's design to show the vital link between His saving work of bringing them out of Egypt and His saving work of bringing them into the Promised Land. They were saved from God's judgment resulting in death by shedding the blood of a lamb and painting the blood on their doorpost. The result of being spared from death and judgment was that, first, they were set free from slavery in Egypt, but it was just the beginning. The following significant result of this saving work was that they entered into a new life with God. This was supposed to be a smooth and uninterrupted progression - saved from death, set free from slavery, and entering into their new life of worship and service to God. But the process was derailed by their lack of faith, leading to disobedience and God's discipline. They went on a 38-year detour while God disciplined them for their lack of faith. But discipline is not judgment; it is God's way of training us and growing us up in faith. God did not reject them, and He never stopped caring for them, as we see in the provision of manna for all the years of wandering in the wilderness. But God's care in times of discipline is not the same as the blessing of the new life! Now that they have entered the new life He had promised all along, the blessings flow, and the temporary provision stops. God's saving work is to bring us out of death, out of slavery to sin, and into new life with Christ. It is on the one hand all a work of God by the blood of Jesus, our Passover Lamb. But it also requires faith on our part. The failure of faith will result in a significant detour, the discipline of God. How many times are we wandering in the wilderness, coming short of walking in the new life and all its blessings, because we do not believe God and His faithfulness to keep all His promises! We think the manna is His blessing, and rest content in His care and feel that is enough. We must never be content with that! God has so much more if we will only come to Him full of faith to enter into the new life and all its blessings!

But what is this new life? We have talked a lot about the blessings of this new life, but what exactly are they? We want the blessings of the new life to be a better life, as we define it —or as the world defines it. A life of wealth, comfort, ease, and peace. But this is not real blessing. These things are only cheap counterfeits of something much greater! Joshua learns about this life through his encounter with the commander of the Lord's army. He sees a stranger holding a sword, a soldier, and Joshua wants to know whose team he is on. But, he replies that he is not on either team, but he is the commander of the Lord's army. The word commander is one who is the top-ranking commander of the army, but not the king. He serves God, who is The King, and he is not on anyone's side, because God does not take sides. The real question is who is on His side! He is not on our team, but He invites us to be on His team! He si here to carry out the will of God, not the will of men. But, it is God's purpose and will to conquer the land of Canaan and all its kings and give it to Israel. Joshua bows in submission and worship to this superior one, as we should all do. We bow before God and surrender to His plan, not ask God to accomplish our will! The commander responds to Joshua, "I have come." Which means, I am here to go before you and conquer, but even more, I am here to walk with you in every battle! Who is this commander? Is it an angel or is it the Angel of the Lord, that is God in the person of Christ? There is debate, but what is essential for our purposes is that it is One worthy of worship, but less than the King. It is God, but not God on the throne. It is not God in heaven but God with us. I believe it is a picture of the Holy Spirit, who is not the king on the throne (Jesus) but one who comes in all His authority and who brings His very presence into our lives. This is what the blessing of the new life is, ultimately - living life in the very direct presence of God! The land was a blessing, but only because it made life in God's presence possible. How could the land do this? The answer is in the next phrase - "Take off your shoes for you are on holy ground." God is holy, meaning there is nothing common, ordinary, or earthly about Him. His being is on another plane, one of perfection, transcendence, and infinite glory. He is above us in every way and infinitely greater than us. He created us for fellowship with Him, to be His friends who walk with Him as brothers, but sin has ruined all of that. We are now unholy, corrupt, sinful, and in every way unworthy of being in His presence. His holiness is a fire that would consume us completely because of our sin. But here we see that God has come, and His presence makes all the land where His foot treads, holy ground. To this day, it is called the holy land, the land where the very presence of God dwells. Joshua was to remove his sandals. It is a picture of entering into the presence of God and His holiness, by casting off all that is of this world and contaminated by sin. OF course, taking off your shoes could not make you truly holy, but it was a picture of what Jesus alone could do for us. We have been made holy by the blood of Jesus. And we are to make ourselves holy by putting off the old, putting off sin, and putting on the righteousness of Christ. This is what it means to live the new life, a life of all the blessings of God. The blessing is God himself; it is life as the friend of God! Not because we have brought God down to our earthly level but because God has raised us up into His holy temple, where we can walk with Him in the deep fellowship of love, worship, and service!

Big Idea - We are called to be disciples of Jesus. What does that mean? It means to be a follower. Jesus leads us, directs our steps, and ultimately is our Lord, our master who rules over us, not for our harm but for our ultimate good, for salvation! This is what it means to be a Christian. But this often leads us to a great misunderstanding about the Christian life. We think that if we follow Jesus, and He is leading us for our ultimate good and for our salvation, then certainly God is leading us in the way that avoids all problems, trouble, and obstacles. We believe that if we are truly following Jesus, things will be easier, and life will go smoothly. But the book of Joshua shows us that this is a great misunderstanding about how God works and what it means to follow Him. In fact, it shows us that following God and walking in His way means walking in the path of obstacles and trouble. If we are following God, we can be certain that He will not only lead us to hard things, but He will, in fact, lead us to impossible things. But, if God loves us, and cares for us, and is seeking our good, then why does He lead us in the path of impossible obstacles? What is His purpose in bringing such trouble and hardship into our lives?

The first thing we learn from Joshua and the Israelites is that the only way to be in a right relationship with God is to be in a relationship of follow the leader. God comes to us and meets us. He enters into a covenant relationship with us for the single purpose of leading us. Specifically, He leads us out of slavery, sin, and death, and He is leading us into all His promises of blessing, new life, abundant life, peace, and rest. In short, He is leading us home. He does not lead from a distance, but He leads us personally by living in our midst and by walking with us! Our part then, in this covenant relationship, is to follow wherever He leads. To know God and to put our faith in Him means nothing less than following Him wherever He takes us. We follow Him by turning away from our own path, from control over our own lives. We submit to Him, walk in humility (dependence upon Him), and faith, expecting Him to do wonders!

The second thing we see clearly is that God does not lead us away from trouble and obstacles, but He leads us to them, on purpose! This is the way you shall go, or walk. That is, following God is walking on the path of the impossible. God leads us, not only to things that are uncomfortable or inconvenient, but also to things that are impossible for us to overcome or solve on our own. This is not because there are no easier ways to go. He could lead us on a smooth, easy path, but that is not the way we should walk into His promises. It is the way that is necessary. It is the way we must walk if we are to enter into His promises. But why is this the only way? What is His purpose in leading us into a life of trouble and problems? Many of our hardships are the result of our own sin and lack of faith. It is because our faith is weak that we need to encounter the impossible. But if our faith is weak, how can running into overwhelming and impossible problems be helpful? Because it is through these that we come to know and experience that the living God is among us and that He will not fail! Specifically, God says that they will come to know three things as they are led on the path of the impossible. First, you will know the way you should go, namely, the way of faith. Second, you will have confidence in the One who is leading you (Jesus). And thirdly, you will come to know what the living God is really like so that you can fully trust Him. This is essential because once God delivers you from one impossible situation, there are hundreds more waiting for you! This is the way you must go if you are going to enter into all His promises. Why? Because we can enter into His Kingdom and His blessing only by faith. And we can only grow in faith when we personally experience God doing the impossible!

This seems so hard! When you are standing on the brink of your own raging river that seems not only impossible to cross but deadly even to try, how are we not to run away in terror? The only way to cross over the river is to hold tightly to Jesus, who goes into the water before us. He does not stand on the bank of the river and shove us into going through the water on our own. Instead, He steps into the water before us. We follow Him, but that means He goes before us into every trouble, every problem, every difficulty, and He stops the raging river and makes a safe path for us to cross through. He does not lead us away from the impossible, but He always makes a way through it by making the impossible possible. This is nowhere more plain than when Jesus went to the cross before us. Our greatest Jordan, the most impossible thing we will ever face is death. Death is God's ultimate judgment on sin, our rebellion against Him. Our pride, selfishness, and rebellion make us children of wrath. The only way home is across the raging river of God's terrible wrath. But Jesus goes before us. He stepped into the raging river of God's wrath and piled up its terrible destruction upon Himself on the cross, so that we can walk across from death to life, untouched by its terrible destruction. We still must walk the path of suffering and death, but we can walk through it with faith, knowing that He has gone before us and made the way safe to cross to the other side! If He has gone before us through the impossible obstacle of death, then we can walk in faith that He will deliver us through every impossible thing he leads us through!

Big Idea -

1) Did God really mean it?

View one: God didn’t command the killing of the Canaanites

View two: The commands to “wipe them out” are not to be taken literally

2) Three reasons why God commanded the killing of the Canaanites

Possession of the land

The protection of Israel

It was judgement on a wicked people

3) The “wipe them out” texts and the contemporary mind

We’re weak on culture

We’re weak on justice and judgment

We’re weak on God being different from us: we’ve forgotten that God is not our equal

Big Idea - Why does Joshua send spies into Jericho? Is it to gain strategic military intelligence about weaknesses in the city wall or to know how to overcome their defenses? If that is what he is looking for, the spies fail to provide that information. However, if he is seeking confirmation that God has already given the land to them and that God will grant them success every step of the way, not based on military strategy but on God's promise, then they were very successful. So, this passage is really about faith. Can Joshua and the people of Israel really trust God to keep His promise to them? The answer is a resounding yes, but it comes from the most unlikely of places. Joshua can trust God because a pagan prostitute named Rahab can trust God! How does Rahab teach Joshua and us a lesson on faith?

Faith is the certainty that God will do what He said. We see this faith demonstrated remarkably in Rahab. First, we see Rahab’s confession of faith. God has given you the land. It is a done deal! She is certain of the outcome and has no doubt. Second, we see the basis of her conviction. She believes that God is giving the land to Israel based on what He has already done. Only a God who has dominion over all of heaven and earth could do such things; therefore, she is confident He will do what He says. Thirdly, we see the logical conclusion she draws from this certainty, namely that she must switch her allegiance. She changes her loyalty from her country and people to the God of Israel and His cause. The result of all this is that God saves her, and she becomes one of God’s children (not to mention an ancestor of David and therefore Jesus). Her faith is such an extraordinary example; she is mentioned as one of the heroes of the faith in the book of Hebrews and also receives special mention by James. God wants Joshua, all Israel, and us to have this same kind of faith. One who is so confident in the promises of God that it changes our loyalty to God alone. A faith that also changes the way we live!

But even more important than the example of Rahab’s faith is the truth about God’s faithfulness. Rahab is held up as an example not because she was a righteous person, but because of her faith in God, who is faithful! The spies promised to deal kindly and faithfully with her, that is, with grace and truth. They could make such an offer, not simply because they were grateful, but because it is the very heart and nature of God! This is the heart and mind of God toward all who trust in Him alone. And this truth is best understood in the context of covenant relationships, where telling the truth is more about keeping a promise than reporting the facts. God is a God of truth, which ultimately means He is faithful to His promises and true to His people.

Big Idea - The book of Joshua begins with the word that "Moses my servant is dead." Moses was the great leader of Israel who had led the people out of slavery in Egypt. So, it was by the hand of Moses that God had saved and redeemed His people. But that was not the end of what God wanted to do for them. He also wanted to give them a very special gift that would be a blessing to them for generations to come. The gift was the land that He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as an inheritance and a home of their very own. Now that Moses was dead, who would lead them into the land of promise? Then we read the words spoken to Joshua, "Now therefore, arise and go over this Jordan into the land I am giving you!" God is now calling Joshua as the one who leads them forward to take possession of the Land of Promise! The book of Joshua is a continuation of the story that began in the Book of Genesis through the Exodus from Egypt and all the wanderings in the desert for 40 years. Now at last, Israel is going to enter into the land they can call home. An important truth that is repeated often throughout the book is that this is a work God will do! God is giving them the land, and He will conquer all the nations that stand in the way of them possessing it. But why do we study the book? We are, for the most part, not of Jewish descent. We have no claim to the land of Promise, and probably no interest in living there! So, what does the book of Joshua have to do with us? Like all of the Old Testament, it has great value to us, not only because it reveals who God is and how He works according to His grace and power. But more significantly, it points to Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment of all God's promises. Everything that happened in the Old Testament is only a shadow, or a faint image, of the ultimate promise of God. So, Israel was redeemed from slavery in Egypt by the blood of the firstborn of Egypt, but we are redeemed from slavery to sin and death by the blood of the Son of God! And like Israel, being saved from death in Egypt is not the end! The rest of the story is that God wants us to take full possession of all the gifts and blessings He has promised us! And here is the first great truth or principle that we can learn from this book. Many Christians understand very well what it means to be saved, to be rescued from their own slavery in Egypt. But they know very little about all the other promises and all the gifts that God wasn’t to lead them into take possession of. As a result, they, like Israel, spend much of their Christian life wandering in the desert, saved, yes, but never really living in the Land of Promise, which is their inheritance in Christ! The goal of studying this book is to come to know all that God has promised to give us and to learn how to take possession of all His promises, so that we can daily walk in them. God's instructions to Joshua and Israel in chapter one set us well on our way to understand how to take full possession of all the gifts and blessings God has for us! To put it in New Testament terms, it shows us how to work out our own salvation, because it is God who is at work in us to will and to work according to His good pleasure!

First, we need to understand that God has truly given us a gift, an inheritance in Christ. It is a gift that is fully ours, but we still need to take possession of it. It is ours by right, but we will never enjoy its benefits until we take full possession of it. For us, the gift is not Land but a spiritual Kingdom. It is all the benefits and blessings that Jesus opened up to us by His death and resurrection.

Second, many obstacles and enemies stand in the way of taking hold of this gift for ourselves, but the power of God to overcome every obstacle and defeat every enemy guarantees our absolute success! Two great truths guarantee this success in taking full possession of all that God has given. The first is that God is with us, all the time, and He will never leave us or forsake us. There is nothing God cannot do, and no enemy He cannot utterly vanquish. We can do all things through Him who strengthens us! This is something God promises, and there is nothing we can do about it. But it is very helpful if we grow in our awareness of what is already true! The result is that it will make us strong and courageous. This is the strength of an unwavering faith and confidence in what God is going to do for us, and the courage to step out and take on the enemies that are preventing us from taking possession of the gift! Fear is the enemy of faith, and the only cure is to know that God is with us, and if He is with us, He will help us! The second guarantee to success is that He has shown us in the Word of God all that we need to know about the gift, the giver, and how to obtain it. Therefore, we need to be constantly in the Word so that we may know Him and His plan for us, and thus walk in it. If we live our lives under the rule and authority of Scripture, our success is guaranteed!

Finally, we take possession of the land by making a deep commitment daily to follow our strong and courageous leader where He leads and whatever He commands. But who is our Joshua? Is it our Pastor? Is it some current popular Christian author or blogger? Is it some political leader? Or, are we supposed just to lead ourselves, be our own Joshua? No, none of the above! Interestingly enough, the Hebrew name for Joshua is actually Yeshua, which is also the Hebrew name for Jesus! We need a strong and courageous leader who will overcome every obstacle and defeat every enemy, and that person is our resurrected Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He came not only to redeem us from death, but also to deliver us from the enemies that still attack and dominate us: Satan and the powers of darkness, the World with all its evil influence, and our own flesh that is still subject to sin. To overcome, we need the strength of an unshakable faith, the courage to face the devil, all the temptations of this World, and the weakness of our own flesh! Where does this faith come from? How can I muster up enough faith to believe and overcome all my sins and addictions? It is through Christ alone who is our strong and courageous leader! He is the author, the founder, the champion of our faith, and also the perfector of our faith. He led the way by trusting God in every temptation and even in the greatest of suffering and death! And He is the only one who can lead us to take full possession of all the promises and blessings of God. However, we must have a fierce determination and commitment to follow Him in total obedience of faith and trust. May we never be content with only being saved, rescued from Egypt, and wandering in the wilderness all our Christian life! May we follow Christ with our whole heart, trusting fully in His presence with us, to overcome every obstacle and to defeat every enemy so that we may take full possession of every gift of grace and all that God has promised for us!

Big Idea - In these verses, Paul is urging us to a life of obedience, specifically to stop grumbling and arguing and start living together with one heart, one mind, and one love. It is how they can strive together for the Gospel, showing its truth and power by the way they treat each other. What is the place of obedience in the life of a Christian? There are two major ways that our thinking about obedience can go badly wrong. The first to not think about it at all. Many Christians and often many Churches get so focused on God's grace and forgiveness in saving us from sin, very little is said about the topic. No serious attention is focused on changing the way we live. In fact, they may argue that under the new covenant of grace, the old covenant with all its rules and regulations has been done away with. Obedience is no longer a concern for us. Consequently, people with this view make very little effort to live any differently than they did before coming to Christ. As a result, they are not likely to be of one mind, one love, or one heart with other believers - especially those who they don't like or disagree with. They leave behind a train wreck of damaged and broken relationships, all the while praising God that He forgives all their sins! Their favorite worship song is "Just as I am" because they are certain God loves them just the way they are, and they have no intention of ever being anything different! A second way our view of obedience can go wrong is to take the path of serious moralism. This group believes that obedience means strictly following the rules. They would agree that the old covenant has been done away with, but they wrongly think that it has been replaced with a new set of rules. They are very diligent and determined to live according to the new rules, and they look down on and become very judgmental and critical of those who do not keep the rules the way they do. As a result, they are often very angry and argumentative. They think they are right because they do all the right things, and their relationships are often characterized by conflict. They are not usually thought of as kind or loving people. In light of what Paul writes here, they might be moral, but they also are not actually walking the path of obedience as Paul conceives it. If obedience is neither ignoring the rules nor diligently following the rules, what does it mean to obey?

First, it means bringing into full effect the saving work of Christ in your life. This is so much greater than simply keeping a set of rules or moral standards. It is also so much more than simply receiving forgiveness and having our guilt covered by His blood! It means fully applying all the results and benefits of the cross and resurrection not only to how we live, but also in regard to who we are. Jesus died on the cross to forgive sins and to restore broken relationships (reconciled to God and at peace with others), unhindered access to God to draw near to Him and live in His presence, new birth, regeneration, renewal, a life of good works, and a life free from sin (Titus 3:4-8; Eph 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:3, Heb 10:19-22, Rom 6:11-12, etc). So then, obedience begins by becoming a very different kind of person as the full work of salvation gets unpacked in your heart and soul. If doing all things without grumbling or arguing becomes a rule to follow, you define grumbling and arguing in a very narrow way, and it will be something you may find some success doing outwardly, but your heart will be grumbling all the time until you explode! But, if the saving work of Christ changes your very nature, so that you become the kind of person who is a peacemaker instead of a troublemaker, you will not even know you're living a life without grumbling or arguing! That sounds great, but how do we do that? How do we work to make sure all the results of Jesus' death and resurrection are being fully implemented and brought to full effect in our lives?

Paul explains how to do this, first with a negative, then a positive. First, we obey in the way of weakness and helplessness. It is not by our own strength or power. That is what is meant by doing it with "fear and trembling." For Paul, these are expressions about human weakness and frailty (See 1 Corinthians 2:3–5). This is the chief problem of the person trying to obey on the path of moralism. They believe it is in their power and ability to be a good person, and it is hard not to feel some measure of pride in the accomplishment. But fearing failure is the natural reaction of a person who has no confidence in their own ability or power. In the Christian life, that is a great thing, and in fact, it is an essential quality we must have if we are going to walk in true obedience. But, if I am weak and helpless, unable to be obedient and do God's will, then how does it work?

The answer is found in the positive exhortation. “For it is God who is working in you to will and to do!” When I come to the realization that I am powerless to do the right thing, not only following some external rule but really doing from the heart what God calls us to, then we are in the right place to let Him do what He alone can and will do in our lives! We can work out our salvation, because (for) God is already at work in us! The word "working" in Greek is energew - from which we get the word energy. God is energizing us with His wisdom and power so that we can know His will and do it by His powerful working in us. He is working in two primary ways in our lives. First, giving us the very will and desire to do His will. This is so much deeper than following a set of rules. It means having our very heart and will line up with God's. He puts His heart and His desire in us, so that in the deepest reaches of our soul, we want to do what is right and good. We do not need to look to some external moral code or set of guidelines to help us figure this out. God's will becomes ingrained in our deepest longings and desires. In Romans 7, Paul talks about what it is like to know the right thing to do, and to really desire to do it, but then fail to do it and actually do the opposite. But God does not stop here with just giving us a different set of desires in life; He also gives us the power to put all these desires into practice. He empowers and enables us to do what we want to do, which is fully in sync with His own heart and desires. The result is that we put into practice what He puts in our heart. That is true obedience, not following an external set of rules by our own ability and strength, but doing God's will at the deepest level by making it how we live all of life from the inside out. So, does that mean we are to become some kind of robot or zombie, passively waiting for God to zap us by remote control?

Not at all. We may be weak, but we are not robots. We do have the power of choice and the power of action. It is still our life, and we have to live it. No one else, not even God, will live it for us. We must work out our own salvation. This is so confusing - what exactly then are we to be doing? What we need is to walk in faith. Walking in the path of obedience is doing God's will, that which pleases God. We read in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God, it is impossible to do His will, and walk in obedience. Faith is seeing with our spiritual eyes spiritual realities. It is seeing this truth that God is indeed working in us the desire and the doing of His will. It is coming to understand that He does all this for the sake of His own good pleasure - that is, we don't need to do anything to convince God to help us. Long before we ever knew we needed help, He was already helping and working because it is His great joy and delight, it is the work He loves to do, and He is doing it. Not because we prayed the right prayer, or wanted it bad enough. He does it because He loves to do it. Faith is coming to this understanding of God's love and all that He has done to give us everything we need to succeed in living a life that is fully pleasing to Him!

Big Idea - Paul tells us that one of the great purposes of our lives is to shine as lights in the world. All that he talks about in this passage centers around this truth and calling for the Christian life. But what exactly does it mean to shine as a light in this crooked and twisted generation? And how are we to do that?

Paul gives two commands of what we are to be doing in our everyday lives in order to shine as lights. They are not really two separate things as much as the wide view of what we are to do, followed by a narrower and more specific focus. So first, the wide-angle view, the big picture. We are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Working out our own salvation does not mean doing some kind of good works or deed in order to save ourselves and earn eternal life. Instead, it has the idea of carrying out the full effects and implications of God's saving work in our lives. Thus, salvation is not simply a gift we receive, but it is something we are to do, to live out in our everyday lives. Our salvation is to have a very practical and specific impact on our daily walk. What does that look like? It means becoming like Jesus in everything we do - but even that may be a bit vague, so Paul focuses in on one specific area of life that should be affected. In the narrow focus, he tells us that in absolutely everything we do, we are to do it without grumbling or arguing! That certainly brings things to the nitty gritty - this is a pretty measurable and specific desired outcome. Christians are to be the kind of people who are characterized by a life 100% free of complaining and strife. Paul then explains why this is so vitally important. It is so that we would be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish in order that we would shine as lights in a dark and depraved world. To shine as a light means two things. First, that we are so distinct from the world that we are set apart from it, but it is important to note that Paul is not speaking here of our personal or private character and integrity. The truth is, there are plenty of people in the world who live very good, moral lives. In fact, this is not all that hard if you are willing to live by yourself! But Paul is speaking here of how we live together as the body of Christ. We are to be radically different from the world as a community that lives together. This is much harder! He is not talking about grumbling about our circumstances, but about grumbling about each other! The second thing that light does is dispel the darkness. Where the light shines, darkness disappears. In the darkness you cannot see, but when the light shines, everything becomes clear. This speaks of our witness to the Gospel. We shine the light of the Good News to a world that is lost in darkness and needs to come into the light. We hold out the Word of life, which is the Gospel. We do this by proclaiming the message, but also by living out the message and its power in our relationships with one another! When we fail to do this, we diminish the glory of the Cross and its power to transform our lives.

So how are we doing? Even a quick survey of the Church would reveal that we are not doing this very well. I was reminded of how easily Churches can fall into complaining and conflict as I saw the ongoing fallout of how COVID tore apart many Churches in the US. There was a huge conflict over whether or not they should wear masks, and many Churches have still not recovered from that fight. That is one small example of how easily Christians can fall into complaining and strife. Why are we so bad at this? It is hard, and the Church in Phillipi illustrates how this can be a problem. But Paul is confident things can be different. There are many reasons why we fail, but here are two. First, we are very confused about the truth that really matters. If there is anything worth fighting for, it is certainly the truth. We are called to guard and defend the truth - language that points to a fight! But so, we are ready to fight to prove we are right, and we feel justified in doing battle to prove our side is right and bring down those who do not agree with us. But all truth is not created equal, and often being right has very little to do with the truth that matters. We need to guard the truth of the Gospel, that is what matters. But that is not what most of our strife and complaining is about! Secondly, nowhere does the Bible teach that the way we fight the battle for truth is through grumbling and arguing. We do not win the war for truth by attacking people in the spirit of the world. Instead, we are to teach the truth with love and compassion, and let God do the rest.

The other reason why we are failing at this is that we do not understand what it really means to work out our salvation, for it is God who is at work in us to will and to do for His good pleasure. We fail because we are trying to make peace with others in our own strength and by our own will and determination. We do not understand how utterly helpless we are to do this. We can only work out our own salvation because it is God who is at work, giving us the right will and desire, but also who is giving us the very power and life to do it. It is by nothing in ourselves that we can succeed, but through the life of Jesus that fills us. Our part is to walk by faith in what God can and will do in us and through us. So, working out our salvation begins with confessing our incredible and complete weakness and failure because we have been trying to do this in our own strength. Confessing the many ways and times we have grumbled and argued for the sake of our own pride and getting our own way. Secondly, we need to acknowledge our complete dependence upon Him. Thirdly, to trust with all our heart that God is at work and it is not because of anything we have done to get God on our side, but it is out of His delight to work in us in this way. It is all His idea and His doing! It is living life with the understanding that we have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me, and then walking by faith in Him and His power at work in us.

Chiangmai Christian Fellowship